Articles

Keywords

Brazil's Parliament Voted To Commence Impeachment Charges Against President Rousseff

Brazil's troubling political situation may have taken a turn for the worse as the country's Parliament voted to commence impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.

Rousseff faces charges of manipulating government accounts. As noted by the BBC, she is accused of "using creative accounting methods involving loans from public banks to the treasury which artificially enhanced the budget surplus."

Brazil's lower house voted 367 in favor of commencing impeachment charges, versus 137 against. A minimum of 342 "yes" votes were required for the motion to move from the lower house to the upper house and Senate.

The BBC added that early next month, Brazil's Senate will vote on putting Rousseff on trial. If the vote passes, she would lose her position and replaced with the country's vice president, Michel Temer.

Adding to the political turmoil is the fact that Temer himself could have similar impeachment charges over the same accusations that Rousseff faces.

However, a Senate trial could last up to half a year.

"We fought a lot to sack this corrupt government, which destroyed our industry, jobs and left chaos in all social classes," demonstrator Marisa Cardamone, 75, told AFP news agency in São Paulo.